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Strengthening Sister City Ties through the Shoyoen Japanese Garden

Minokamo in Gifu and Dubbo in NSW began their sister city exchange after signing a sister city agreement in 1989. In November 2002, the Shoyoen Japanese Garden and Jurian Ceremonial Tea House were built on a 10ha area of land in Dubbo. Through the Minokamo International Exchange Association, citizen volunteers such as craftspersons and landscapers took part in designing the Japanese garden and the building of the garden was completed with the support of Dubbo Regional Council. 

Just like the saying “As Spring arrives and the Cherry blossoms bloom, the friendship and understanding between us further”, the friendship between the two cities has grown over the past 30 years. Shoyoen is loved by the locals in Dubbo and is now an impressive garden that transmits Japanese culture and is a place of recreation for locals. With Dubbo’s desire that Shoyoen “is to not just be of Japanese style, but an authentic Japanese garden”, since 2008, Minokamo has been sending a landscaper to Dubbo every year to manage the garden and provide guidance on pruning. 

However, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it had been two years that the student exchange program, as well as the landscaper dispatch program between the two cities, could not go ahead. The landscaper dispatch program resumed in September this year. With a two-year gap since the last landscaper was dispatched, this year’s landscaper was anxious due to the long gap but was impressed by how extremely well-maintained Shoyoen is after arriving at the garden. According to the landscaper, “Our efforts in maintaining and managing the garden are minimal. The upkeeping of this impressive Japanese garden is all because of the efforts of the staff at Dubbo Regional Council and the volunteers who continued pruning and managing the plants in the garden.”

Currently, Shoyoen is a popular spot amongst Dubbo locals and is often used as a place for weddings, events, tea gatherings and other day-to-day social gatherings. 

On 19 November, accepting Dubbo Regional Council’s invitation to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the opening of Shoyoen, a delegation of approximately 20 from Minokamo City visited Dubbo to celebrate alongside Dubbo locals. Minokamo City is excited to see the resumption of people-to-people interactions between the two cities.